Grinding machine steady rest



July 25, 1939. H.' A. SILVEN GRINDING MACHINE STEADY REST Filed May 13,1938 6 m .I 5 V o w a w 1 m n 1 MIL 4| 3 R 7 E m 6 I E 8 W 7 rm E: m 11m a 1 1 $6 H E: x f 1 W a M n m x Patented July 25, 1939 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE Norton Company, Worce tion of Massachusetts ApplicationMay 13, 1

Claims.

This invention relates to grinding machines, and more particularly to awork steadying rest for a cylindrical grinding machine.

One object of the invention is to provide a 5 simple and thoroughlypractical work steadying rest for a grinding machine. Another object ofthe invention is to provide a steady rest which is simple in operationand adjustment for supporting a cylindrical Work piece during a grindingoperation. A further object of the invention is to provide a steady restin which opposed bearing shoes are provided for steadying the work andthereby preventing vibration during a grinding operation. Another objectof the invention is to provide a steady rest in which one of the worksteadying shoes is maintained in an adjustably fixed position and asecond shoe opposed thereto is maintained in an adjustably fixedposition and a second shoe opposed thereto is main- 20 tained inengagement with the work during a grinding operation. A further objectof the invention is to provide a steady rest for a grinding machine inwhich the lower work steadying shoe is rigidly supported and is readilyadjustable 25 horizontally and vertically. Other objects will be in partobvious or in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts, as will beexemplified in the structure to be hereinafter described, and the scopeof the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawing, in which is shown one of various possibleembodiments of the mechanical features of this invention,

Fig. l is an end elevation of the improved steady rest, showing the worksteadying shoes in an operative position. in engagement with the work;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the steady rest as shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken approximately on the line 33 ofFig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the steady rest; and

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken approximately on the line 5-5of Fig. 1.

As illustrated in the drawing, the improved steady rest has beenillustrated as applied to an ordinary cylindrical grinding machine, suchas that employed in the grinding of Camshafts, in which a work piece I0is supported for rotation on a rock bar H by means of the usual head andfootstocks (not shown). The camshafts employed in the modern automobileengines are ster, Mass, at corpora- 938, .Serial No. 207,665

usually provided with a central cylindrical bearing which is ground topredetermined dimension prior to grinding the cams on the shaft. Thisbearing surface may be utilized during the grinding of the cams forsteadying the shaft. A rotatable grinding wheel I2 is provided to grindthe work piece to the required size. In order to support the work pieceIll during the grinding operation so as to prevent vibration thereof, animproved steady rest is provided comprising a steady rest base i3 havinga partial dovetailed surface it formed thereon which is arranged to matewith a correspondingly shaped dovetailed slideway 85 formed on the rockbar I! and is arranged to be clamped in position on the rock bar bymeans of a clamping block l6 and a pair of spaced clamping screws I! andIS. The base i3 serves as a support for a transversely movable steadyrest frame 29. The work steady rest frame 28' is provided with adovetailed slideway 2! which mates with a correspondingly shapeddove-tailed way 22 formed integral with the steady rest base [3.

The steady rest frame serves as a support for a vertically movable slide25 which carries a lower partial cylindrical work steadying shoe 26 forsupporting the lower surface of the work piece It. The verticallymovable slide 25 is provided with a dovetailed slideway 21 which mateswith a correspondingly shaped slideway 28 formed in the verticallyarranged steady rest frame 20. A gib 29 serves to facilitate adjustmentof the clearance between the dovetailed slideways 21 and 28. The gib 29is held in adjusted position by means of screws 30 and 3! which passthrough holes in the vertically extending portion of the steady restframe 26 and are screw threaded into the gib 29.

The steady rest frame 20 is arranged so that it may be adjustedtransversely relative to the steady rest base 53 to facilitate adjustingthe steady rest shoe relative to the work axis so that the worksupporting surface 32 is concentric to the axis of the work piece H]. Tofacilitate adjustment of the steady rest frame 20, a nut and screwadjusting mechanism is provided comprising a rotatable screw 33 which issupported in a bearing formed within the steady rest base l3. The screw33 is screw threaded into a nut 34 depending from the steady rest frame20. An adjusting knob 35 is fixedly mounted on the other end of thescrew 33 and serves with a shoulder 36 formed integral with the screw 33as an end thrust bearing between the screw 33 and the steady rest base13. By rotation of the knob 35,

the steady rest frame 20 may be adjusted transversely and horizontallyin either direction accurately to locate the work steadying shoe 25.

The steady rest frame 20 may be locked in adjusted position by means ofa gib 40 which serves to take up any lost motion between the slideways2i and 22. The gib 40 may be clamped in adjusted position by screws 4|and 42, which serve to lock the steady rest frame 20 rigidly to thesteady rest base l3 after a transverse adjustment thereof has been made.

In order to support and steady work piece Ill against vibration during agrinding operation, it is desirable that the steady rest shoe 26 and thevertical slide 25 be rigidly supported in a vertical plane passingthrough the work axis so as to dampen vibrations not only of the workpiece but also of the steady rest parts. To facilitate rigidlysupporting the work shoe 26 and the slide 25 and to permit a verticaladjustment of the slide 25, a wedge block 50 is slidably positionedwithin a groove 5| formed in the under surface of the slide 25. Thewedge 50 is loosely supported within a groove 52 formed within thesteady rest frame 26. An adjusting screw 53 is rotatably supported in abearing 54 in the steady rest frame 20. A flange 55 is formed integralwith the screw 53. An adjusting knob 55 is fixedly mounted on the outerend of the screw 53 and serves together with the flange 55 to hold thescrew 53 against endwise movement. The screw 53 is screw threaded into acorrespondingly threaded aperture within the wedge block 50. By rotatingthe screw 53 by means of the knob 56, the wedge block 50 may be movedhorizontally in either direction. The groove 51 in the lower surface ofthe vertical slide 25 is formed to mate with the upper surface of thewedge block 50 so that when the knob 56 and screw 53 are rotated to movethe wedge block 50 transversely, a vertical motion is transmitted to theslide 25 vertically to adjust the position of the work supportingsurface 32 of the work steadying shoe 25. A screw threaded stud 60passes through a clearance hole in the vertical slide 25, through anelongated slot 5| in the wedge block 50, and is fixedly supported withinthe horizontal portion of the steady rest frame 20. A nut 52 on thescrew 60 serves to clamp the vertical slide 25 rigidly in engagementwith the wedge block 58 to hold the wedge block and the vertical slidein a predetermined adjusted position.

In certain types of grinding, such as for example grinding spacedportions on a work piece such as a camshaft in which the portions arenoncircular in shape, it is desirable to support the center of the shafton one of the cylindrical bearing surfaces which have previously beenground to a true cylindrical form and size. The lower work steadyingshoe 26 is, therefore, preferably formed with the work bearing surfaceof a partial cylindrical shape which has a radius equal to that of theradius of the bearing surface to be supported. In order to preventvertical movement of the shaft or work piece during a grinding operationand to dampen vibration thereof, an upper bearing shoe is providedhaving a partial cylindrical bearing surface which is of the same radiusas that of the finished work piece and is arranged to engage the workpiece at a point substantially diametrically opposed to the lower shoe26. It is desirable to provide a suitable mounting for the upper shoe H!which may be readily moved to an inoperative position to facilitateloading and unloading of work pieces before and after the grindingoperation. In the preferred form, the shoe 10 is fixedly mounted on theouter end of a pivoted arm 12 which is supported on a stud 13 carried bythe vertically movable slide 25 so that the arm 12 together with theupper work steadying shoe 10 may be readily swung into an operativeposition, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1, or into an inoperativeposition, as indicated in dotted lines 12a and 70a. A stop screw 14 isscrew threaded into the arm 12 and serves as a stop screw to abutagainst a fixed stop surface 15 on the vertical slide 25 to limit thedownward movement of the work steadying shoe 10. In view of the factthat the portion of the work piece which is steadied is not groundduring this steadying operation, the shoe ill may be located in apredetermined adjusted position and locked in position during thegrinding operation, since no adjustment is required during grinding. Alock nut 76 serves to lock the stop screw M in a predetermined adjustedposition. To facilitate holding the arm 12 and the work steadying shoe(0 in an operative position, a clamping screw 18 is pivotally supportedat its lower end by means of a stud 19 which is fixedly supported on thevertical slide 25. A clamping nut 85 is threaded onto the upper portionof the screw 78 and has its lower surface bearing against the uppersurface of the arm 12 and serves to lock the same in adjusted position.To facilitate swinging the upper shoe 70 to an inoperative position, apair of spaced upwardly projecting lugs Bl are provided on the arm 12which is arranged in the path of movement of portions of the nut 85.When the nut 80 is loosened and the nut together with the screw 18 areswung in a counterclockwise direction about the stud 19, the nut 80engages the lugs 8| and continued movement of the nut serves to rock thearm 12 and the upper work steadying shoe 10 into the dotted lineposition 12a and 10a, as indicated in Fig. 1.

The operation of this steady rest is readily apparent from the foregoingdisclosure. A pair of work steadying shoes 26 and 10 having worksupporting surfaces 32 and H, respectively, of the proper curvature tosupport the bearing of the work piece to be ground are mounted inposition on their respective supporting members. The screws 4| and 42are then loosened and the knob 35 and screw 33 rotated to adjust thesurfaces 32 and ll so that they are concentric with respect to the workaxis. The screws 4! and 42 are then tightened to clamp the steady restframe in adjusted position. The clamping screws 35 and 3| are thenloosened and the screw 53 and knob 56 are rotated to adjust the positionof the wedge block 50 vertically to adjust the slide to position thework steadying surfaces 32 and II in a vertical direction, after whichthe clamping screws and 3| are tightened to lock the vertical slide 25in its adjusted position. The nut 80 together with the screw 18 is thenmoved in a clockwise direction (Fig. 1). The nut 88 engages the uppersurface of the arm 12 and continued movement serves to swing the nut 85,the screw 18, together with the arm 12 from the dotted line positions18a, 83a and 1200 into the full line positions as indicated in Fig. 1.Assuming the stop screw 74 to have been previously adjusted, theclamping nut 80 is then tightened securely to clamp the upper shoe '55in proper engagement with the upper surface of the work piece ID tosupport and steady the same against vibration during the grindingoperation.

It will thus be seen that there has been provided by this inventionapparatus in which the various objects hereinabove set forth togetherwith many thoroughly practical advantages are successfully achieved. Asmany possible embodiments may be made of the above invention and as manychanges might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to beunderstood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in theaccompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

I claim:

1. In a grinding machine steady rest, a base, a transversely movableslide thereon, a vertically movable slide on said first slide, a steadyrest shoe fixedly supported on said second slide and having a partialcylindrical work steadying surface thereon, means to adjust the firstslide transversely, means to adjust the second slide vertically relativeto the first slide accurately to position said steady rest shoe, anupper shoe arranged diametrically opposed to the lower shoe, a pivotalsupport for said shoe on the vertical slide, and means including apivotally mounted screw to lock said pivotal support and upper shoe inoperative position with relation to the lower shoe.

2. In a grinding machine steady rest, a base, a transversely movableslide thereon, a vertically movable slide on the first slide, a steadyrest shoe on said vertical slide having a partial cylindrical worksteadying surface, means to adjust the position of the first slide,means to adjust the second slide vertically relative to the first slide,an upper work steadying shoe arranged diametrically opposite to thelower shoe, a pivotal support for said upper shoe on said verticalslide, a pivotally mounted clamping screw which serves in an operativeposition to clamp the upper shoe in an operative position and when swungto an inoperative position serves automatically to shift the upper shoeto an inoperative position.

3. In a grinding machine steady rest, a base, a transversely movableslide thereon, a vertically movable slide on said first slide, a steadyrest shoe fixedly supported on said second slide and having a partialcylindrical work steadying surface thereon, means to adjust the firstslide transversely, means to adjust the second slide vertically relativeto the first slide accurately to position said steady rest shoe, anupper shoe arranged diametrically opposed to the lower shoe, a pivotalsupport for said shoe on the vertical slide, an adjustable stop screw tolocate the upper shoe, and means to lock said upper shoe in operativeposition with relation to the lower shoe.

4. In a grinding machine steady rest, a base, a transversely movableslide thereon, a vertically movable slide on the first slide, a steadyrest shoe on said vertical slide having a partial cylindrical worksteadying surface, means to adjust the position of the first slide,means to adjust the second slide vertically relative to the first slide,an upper work steadying shoe arranged diametrically opposite to thelower shoe, a pivotal support for said upper shoe on said verticalslide, and a. pivotally mounted clamping screw which serves in anoperative position to clamp the upper shoe in an operative position,said screw being arranged to engage said support when swung to anoperative position so as to automatically shift the upper shoe to anoperative position.

5. In a grinding machine steady rest, a base, a transversely movableslide thereon, means to adjust said slide transversely relative to thebase, a vertically movable slide on said first slide, a work steadyingshoe having a partial cylindrical surface thereon, and means includingan adjustable Wedge to adjust the second slide vertically relative tothe first slide, said work shoe, vertical slide and wedge forming arigid support for said work shoe at a point directly below the axis ofsaid work supporting surface.

HERBERT A. SILVEN,

